Farmers across the country have contributed N1.77 billion for the campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 general election. The farmers, who announced the donation on Wednesday during a Gala Night organised by beneficiaries of the government’s Anchor Borrowers Programme at the Presidential Villa, Abuja said they are fully ready to mobilize no fewer than 12.2 million votes for the President’s reelection.
The farmers met under the auspices of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) and Fertilisers Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN). The two groups told the gathering that their donation to support the campaign of the President was in appreciation of how his administration has changed the fortunes of the agriculture sector.
They also attributed their support to the unprecedented change the government has introduced which has revolutionized the sector. President of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Amino Goroyo, while announcing the donation of his group, said that each of the 12.2 million members of RIFAN made a contribution of N100, which amounted to N1.2 billion.
He said FEPSAN raised a total of is N570 million for the President’s campaign. Goroyo stated that the introduction of the Anchor Borrowers programme has turned around the fortunes of the 12.2 million registered members of the association. He said that more fertilizers were made available and easily to rice farmers in the country in the last three years. According to him, “All these achievements are from your commitments and favourable policies to agriculture.” On his part, the President of FEPSAN, Thomas Etuh, said that the Buhari’s administration has saved N120 billion in two years from fertilizer subsidy. While responding to the donations, President Buhari thanked the farmers for the gesture, stressing that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports have confirmed that his administration’s policies were yielding results. He said his government inherited a broken system in the agricultural sector in 2015. Buhari explained that “seeing your faces and hearing your stories give me hope. Today, we are on track to achieving inclusive economy.”
In his remarks, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emeifele, noted that the Anchor Borrowers programme, launched on 17th November, 2015, has resulted in the saving of $800 million. Emeifele said the import bill, before the introduction of the programme, was as high as N1.4 trillion annually, he said that the anchor borrowers programme has been creating jobs and wealth for the teeming population. According to him, 2.5 million jobs from rice farming have been created and that the programme has remained the most successful anchor programme in Africa. “It has raised the standard of our farmers,” he said.
